Questions and Replies

Reply:

DSD

The National Department of Social Development made provisions in terms of the allocation of its procurement spend in terms of the following procurement spend categories:

• Black Owned businesses
• Women-owned businesses
• Youth-owned businesses
• Businesses in Rural or Township areas
• Businesses owned by persons living with disabilities

The table below depicts the percentage spent and the rand value for the 2022/23 financial year for each of the categories indicated above.

Year	Total spend	Black Owned	Women Owned	Youth Owned	Disability	Rural/Township
21/22	R358,75	146,620 000	R71,830 000	R24, 100 000	R510 000	R10 530 000
		40,9%	20%	6,7%	0,1%	2,9%
22/23	R383,2 Mil	R150,770 000	R 103,620 000	R 16,850 000	R 400 000	R 10,590 000
		39,3%	27%	4,3%	0,1%	2,8%
23/24	31,86 Mil	R9,830 000	R5,150 000	R1, 730 000	R120 000	R2,710 000
		30,8%	16,1%	5,4%	0,4%	8,5%

NB for 2023/24 the amounts included are up to 13 June 2023.

SASSA

SASSA did not make provision for procurement allocation in respect of the three (3) categories as specified in the above question, NAPQ 1707 of 2023. However, the below figures depict the total expenditure towards the below designated groups. The total percentage spent for the designated groups in the 2022/2023 Financial Year is nine percent (9%).

Please note that National Treasury Practice Note Number SCM 2 of 2006, on the prohibition of set-asides was only repealed with effect from 16 January 2023, to align with Regulations, 2022. 

(i) Total SMME/ EME expenditure is R 334,206,197.88

(ii) National Treasury Central Supplier Database does not make provision for Cooperatives as a category.

(iii) Total Township enterprise expenditure is R 281,214,251.33

(iv) Total rural expenditure is R 22,698,907.28

NDA

b) The procurement percentage allocation was against a total of R 26 574 444 and R 30 234 710 for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 financial years respectively. It is broken down as follows:

(i) R 23 908 290 and R 22 421 761 were allocated towards Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises which constitute 79,1% and 84,4% for the aa) 2021-22 and bb) 2022-23 financial years respectively.

(ii) R 124 942 and R 10 735 were allocated towards Cooperatives which constitutes 0,4% and 0,04% for the aa) 2021-22 and bb) 2022-23 financial years respectively.

(iii) R 845 319 and R 1 977 836 was allocated towards Township Enterprises which constitutes 2,8% and 7,4% for the aa) 2021-22 and bb) 2022-23 financial years respectively; and

(iv) R 504 377 and R 723 234 were allocated towards Rural Enterprises which constitutes 1,7% and 2,7% for the aa) 2021-22 and bb) 2022-23 financial years respectively.

The table below provides a detailed breakdown of the procurement spend per category for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 financial years.

 

Reply:

(1)(2)(3) The Department of Health monitors Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) cases through the National Health Information Management System. The member is advised to refer the question to the relevant Ministry of Health.

(4) South Africa has developed and implements an integrated and comprehensive National Food and Nutrition Security Plan for South Africa, which holistically addresses food and nutrition issues, focusing on the pre-conception period, the first 1000 days of life, Early Childhood Development, and appropriate feeding of vulnerable children in poor schools (quantile 1–3).

The Food Security and Nutrition Plan for South Africa reflects a common vision across government departments, with a unified goal, objectives, indicators and targets for monitoring progress. Under this plan various programmes under Strategic Objective 4, which relates to “Scaling up of high impact nutrition specific interventions targeting nutritionally vulnerable groups across the life cycle” are implemented.

This is to enable the country to address problems such as hunger, malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies that affect physical growth and cognitive development, especially among children, as directed by the National Food and Nutrition Security Policy.

The Department implements targeted social protection measures, which includes the provision of nutrition support services to the poor and vulnerable groups. Furthermore, social grants are paid in line with the social assistance act, 2004 (Act No. 13 of 2004) to alleviate the plight of most impoverished and vulnerable people in the country. More than 60 % expenditure on grants is used to buy food and this assist many households to not go to bed hungry.

DSD has Centre based feeding programmes most registered and funded as NPOs that support vulnerable groups through nutrition support and provide other psychosocial services as well. These includes Community Nutrition and Development Centres (CNDCs), Home Community Based Care Centres (HCBCs, Luncheon Clubs (LCs) etc.

Reply:

1. In order to contribute towards eradicating poverty, the NDA utilises Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) as a vehicle to implement programmes, aimed at meeting the most critical development needs of poor communities. By capacitation, empowerment and engagements with CSOs, the NDA enhances the ability of CSOs to deliver a myriad of developmental interventions to communities they are located in, aimed at reducing levels of poverty and creating sustainable communities. The NDA’s aim is to create a functional, efficient, and integrated CSO sector through cooperation and strategic partnerships within the sector, aimed at benefiting CSOs, with the ultimate beneficiaries being individuals served by the CSOs.

Furthermore, the NDA’s strategic plan provides for it to collaborate and coordinate with the Department of Social Development, the South African Social Security Agency as well as other government departments and entities, funding organisation’s and the private sector to contribute effectively towards poverty eradication in poor communities.

(2) (a) There was no specific criteria to identify these CSOs. However, the 24 783 CSOs are part of our database which was created through the following interventions and activities:

• Community Profiling;
• Walk-ins to the NDA offices country-wide;
• CSOs who have participated in NDA capacity building sessions and other events;
• CSOs who participate in government wide events such as Integrated Community Registration Outreach Programmes (ICROP); and
• Referrals from other departments and stakeholders.

(2) (b) Indeed, the first step is engagement with CSOs at a local level to identify developmental needs, possible interventions, referrals to other departments and supporting communities to develop community structures or formations to organise themselves.

The assessment process also includes classification of CSOs based on assessed needs as well as types and levels of interventions required to improve operations of the CSO.

3. There was no country-wide call for proposals by the NDA for grant funding, due to the limited budget allocated for grant funding, lest expectations be created in the sector. Instead, the NDA used programme formulation method to develop proposals for grant funding. Programme formulation is a grant making approach whereby the NDA engages communities in social facilitation with the view of creating grassroots structures that will ultimately be the mechanism for implementation of projects. The approach targets specific areas and sectors based on primary research on priority poverty pockets. The process is driven by the NDA staff in provinces, based on the assessment of the institutional capability and competencies of Community Based Organisations (CBOs) and NGOs in identified localities. The NDA Development Practitioners assume an active role in the conceptualization and planning of projects. The approach is used mainly for CSOs funded through NDA’s resources.

Notwithstanding the above mentioned, the country-wide call for proposals was used specifically in soliciting proposals to implement the following projects:

• The CARA Victim Empowerment Programme in the 2019/2020 financial year; and
• The Presidential Employment Stimulus Package (PESP) Volunteer Programme.

(4) (a) In the last four Financial Years, the NDA has grant-funded 289 CSOs enabling them to address poverty relief to the vulnerable and poor in communities. Through the funding, the NDA makes inroads in ridding the society of the dire effects of poverty, especially in areas where these CSOs operate. The grant funding programme focuses on assisting CSOs with seed funding that enables them to provide services to communities. The funding specifically targets CSOs that do not meet funding requirements of most funding institutions. NDA aims to unlock their potential for more funding and increase their sustainability.

As a result of the NDA Grant funding, the following was achived:

• Children within ECD Centres were able to access ECD services which meet the norms and standards of the sector. This increased their development prospects and provided an opportunity for caregivers to be involved in economic activities;

• Household food security has been improved through support to communal food gardens and small-holder farmers;

• Household income from the funded CSOs and Co-operatives involved in economic activities has been increased thereby increasing the asset base in their respective communities;

Through the grant funding programme the NDA created work opportunities. These work opportunities ensure that economically disadvantaged families have their quality of life improved through participation in the NDA supported community projects.

4) (b) A total budget of R50 173 746 in grant funding was disbursed to CSOs as per provincial and annual breakdown in the table below.

(4) (c) there is no amount still to be disbursed to CSOs except what is in the budget for the current financial year 2023/2024 i.e. R 9 396 829.

Reply:

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), the Public Service Commission (PSC), and the National School of Government (NSG), each have their own budget vote. The Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) is allocated its funds through transfers from the DPSA.

The Department for Public Service and Administration does not allocate a percentage budget for procurement for (i) Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises, (ii) Cooperatives, (iii) Township Enterprises and (iv) Rural Enterprises as the Department engages with National and Provincial Departments as clientele from a mandate perspective.

The National School of Government responded as follows:

(aa) Procurement in terms of percentages allocated to during 2021-22 financial year:

i) Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises

Total Procurement spent= R94 272 720.02

Procurement spent on SMME = R24 362 398.28

Procurement percentage spent on SMME = 25,84%

(ii) Cooperatives = 0%

(iii) Township enterprises = 0%

(iv) Rural enterprises = 0%

(bb)Procurement in terms of percentages allocated since 1 April 2023:

i) Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises

Total Procurement spent= R4 508 676.54

Procurement spent on SMME = R223 383.38

Procurement percentage spent on SMME = 4.95%

ii) Cooperatives = 0%

iii) Township enterprises = 0%

iv) Rural enterprises = 0%

The Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) does not have any procurement allocation in terms of the percentages allocated to (i) small-, medium- and micro-enterprises, (ii) cooperatives, (iii) township enterprises and (iv) rural enterprises with a view to evaluating the effectiveness of the set-aside policy of the Government in fostering an inclusive and diverse economic landscape (details furnished) in the (aa) 2021-22 financial year and (bb) since 1 April 2023

The Public Service Commission (PSC) is an independent Constitutional body, accountable to the National Assembly. It is therefore not an entity or body reporting to the Minister for Public Service and Administration (MPSA). Its budget was, prior to 2020/21 financial year, appropriated through the MPSA. With effect from 1 April 2020, the PSC’s budget is appropriated through the PSC allocated vote, and not through the MPSA.

The percentages allocated are as follows:

(aa) 2021-2022 financial year:

(i) 170 orders out of 219 orders were issued to small-, medium- and micro-enterprises which constitutes to 77%;

(ii) no orders were issued to cooperatives;

(iii) 15 orders out of the 170 orders issued to small-, medium and micro-enterprises were issued to township enterprises which constitutes to 8.82%; and

(iv) 9 orders out of the 170 orders issued to small-, medium- and micro-enterprises were issued to rural enterprises which constitutes to 5.29%.

(bb) 2023-2024 financial year:

The response for 2023/24 will only be available at the end of 2023/24 financial year.

End

Reply:

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements approved and signed a contract with First Metro Housing Company in March 2001 to build 213 institutional housing units in Ethekwini Municipality. The project claims were processed between January 2002 to March 2006 in the amount of R 4,785,725.10.

Attached are the project claims related to the Howell Road Project.

Reply:

(1)(a) A beneficiary can cancel the COVID SRD grant by logging onto the platform (https://srd.sassa.gov.za) which they used to apply for the grant, select the cancel option and follow the prompts for cancellation. The cancellation is not based on a month, but a permanent cancellation. If cancelled, the client will need to reapply for the grant, if they need it in future.

(1)(b)(i), (1)(b)(ii), (1)(b)(iii) The number of grants which were stopped due to cancellations received for the years under this enquiry are:

(i) 2021 – 341 896

(ii) 2022 – 435 432

(iii) 2023 – 211 814

It should be noted that despite canceling the grants, quite a number of clients re-instate their grants at a later period in the same year. In this regard, SASSA is not able to indicate which of the above numbers were reinstated again as their might have been multiple cancellations and re-instatements per client.

Given the aforementioned explanation, SASSA unfortunately cannot answer this question without a significant amount of analysis of tens of millions of records, which will take a considerable amount of time. Given that the grant is not permanent and a client can receive it one month, then stop for a month or two due to them receiving other forms of assistance, (as alluded to above) and then qualify again for a few months; the analysis of the data is further complicated.

1 (c) the number of cancellations which have been (i) received

(aa) April 2023 – 169 635

(bb) May 2023 – 181 867

(ii) Successfully cancelled for

(aa) April 2023 - 169 635

(bb) May 2023 - 181 867

(2) There is an option to cancel the grant for April and May 2023 on the website. As indicated in 1(a), a beneficiary can cancel the COVID SRD grant by logging onto the platform (https://srd.sassa.gov.za) which they used to apply for the grant, select the cancel option and follow the prompts for cancellation.

(3) As indicated it is possible for clients to cancel their grants. Despite this, unfortunately there is no way for SASSA to know if a client no longer needs the grant and wants to cancel it, unless they inform SASSA. The process to cancel the grant is as easy as the process to apply, if not easier, and remains the responsibility of the beneficiary to notify SASSA if their circumstances change.

It is very likely that the reason why clients who no longer need the grant can be because they are receiving income. This will be picked up when SASSA checks income on a monthly basis before approving the grant for that month. Hence the numbers for “declined”, may be skewed by those who should have cancelled their grant. However, given the current economic situation in the country, these numbers are likely to be small, even negligible.

Reply:

1) The queue management project team is currently at the follow-up and evaluation stage of the project, post GO-LIVE. During this stage, the team is performing ongoing monitoring and system performance evaluation to provide support, additional training, and adjustments to local offices who have implemented the queue management system. This process will allow the team to establish the baseline in terms of current waiting times and be able to measure the effectiveness of the system.

However, it is important to note that a queue management system is about improving the efficiency of managing queues in the local office. These efficiencies mainly contribute to maintain order within the local office and may have a spill over effect on time spent in the office.

This collectively with other systems – such as the online application system (which reduces demand), the self-help kiosk that are to be rolled out later (to reduce the need for human interaction through self-service), express queues, as well as the ongoing capacitation offices with alternative energy supplier – are all part of the larger strategies to reduce times spent in queues.

(2) In 2022/23 SASSA did a pilot implementation of the system at approximately 23 offices and intends to extend this to another 27 offices in the current financial year. Different use-cases and scenarios are being evaluated. Part of this exercise will be a full costing for roll out at all the 422 local offices, however high-level costing suggest that it will cost approximately R52 million. This cost is for the hardware (computers, screens and printers) and consumables (paper, etc), thus the plan is to roll this out progressively over time within the existing baseline of the Agency.

Reply:

Children’s Services

The contracted consultant is required to transfer its skills to the staff.

a) The contracted consultant will provide mentorship and training on how to conduct research to two (2) early career staff within the department.

b) The mentorship and training indicated in (a) will be conducted for a period of eight (8) months.

c) Two (2) staff members from the Department of Social Development will benefit from this process.

Children’s Legislation

a) The consultant appointed to develop a costed Implementation Plan for the National Child Care and Protection Policy will transfer skills for data collection approaches, and processes for developing implementation plans to the project manager. The consultant will further transfer skills to identified officials through capacity building session workshop.

The consultant appointed to develop Regulations for the Children’s Amendment Act transferred skills for legislative drafting to different business Units through focus group sessions.

b) The workshop for skills transfer for the development of costed Implementation Plan will take one day. Skills transfer for the drafting of Regulations has been completed.

c) The total number of officials impacted for skills transfer on the development of a costed Implementation Plan is six (6). The total number of staff impacted for skills transfer for developing regulations is 70.

Services to Families

(a) The consultant appointed for the development of the policy on homelessness will transfer skills through workshops, meetings, project documents, and public consultations with the key stakeholders working closely with the project team. Skills transfer and methodology have been included in the terms of reference.

The skills to be transferred include data collection and analysis; facilitation skills; project management; policy development, writing, and analysis skills; stakeholder analysis, engagement, and management; literature review; etc

(b) This process will be linked to the duration of the contract, which in this case is one (1) year

(c) Close to 30 officials, from both the task team and the technical team, will benefit from this process by the end of the project and this includes officials from other key national departments, provinces, and officials from National DSD. Yes, this is linked to a & b

Recruitment and Retention Strategy for SSP’s

1. Skills transfer by consultants will be done through project team meetings, which are held after development of each deliverable for quality assurance purposes.
2. The process is ongoing during the design and development phases and conducted over a period of three sessions per project (there are currently two projects) and each is allocated one day for skills transfer purposes.
3. Three staff members will benefit from the skills transfer process (social work policy manager, social work policy developer and scholarship project coordinator).

Service Standards

(a) The consultant appointed to conduct a Readiness Assessment on the Implementation of the White Paper on Social Development will transfer skills to the project team through project engagement meetings on a continuous basis.

(b) The consultant will further transfer skills to identified officials within the national department of DSD through a training workshop. The workshop for skills transfer for the Readiness Assessment will take one day.

Four officials from the national department of DSD will be impacted.

(c) The consultant appointed for refining and editing the White Paper on Social Development will transfer skills to the project team on a continuous basis through project engagement meetings officials.

The consultant for refining and editing the White Paper on Social Development will further transfer skills to identified officials within the national department of DSD through a training workshop. The workshop for skills transfers for the Readiness Assessment will take one day.

Four officials from the national department of DSD will be impacted.

Reply:

 

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1. In the past three years, the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) implemented sixty (60) infrastructure projects, thirty eight (38) were not completed according to initial schedule. The projects were completed after extension of time for several reasons including the lack of availability of materials that were vastly experienced in year 2020 during the COVID19 lockdown periods. There were four (4) projects, included in the 38 mentioned above, where the contracts of service providers were terminated due to poor performance of service providers and replacement contractors appointed resulting in delays.
2. (i) Section 106 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, Act 32 of 2000, is applied to municipalities. It is therefore not applicable to the national sphere of government.

(ii) The response is as per (b) (i) above.

End.

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Reply:

1. Yes, the BRICS Summit will be hosted by South Africa.
2. The subject of President Putin's attendance and the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court are matters under consideration by the Government of South Africa. The President will make an announcement on this matter once a decision is finalised.

Reply:

The department has not identified areas to be allocated for housing across all provinces. The identification of suitable land and the development of that land is an ongoing collaborative effort amongst relevant organs of state, i.e. provincial and local government, Human Settlements and the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure as per their respective legislated mandates. The department through the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) together with the Provincial Disaster Management Centres across the country continues to provide support to relevant organs of state in the implementation of sustainable interventions including the identification of suitable land for rebuilding and settlement of communities for building back better, to promote resilience, prevent or minimise the impacts of flooding incidents. The organs of state are further supported in the development of Disaster Management Contingency Plans and implementation of the plans thereof.

End

Reply:

1. The Minister receives reports on appointments of senior managers including Chief Financial Officers (CFO) and Municipal Managers (MMs) on periodic basis in terms of section 54A(3) and section 56(2)(a) of the Municipal Systems Act, (Act No.32 of 2000) as amended in 2022, read together with Regulation 17 of the Local Government: Regulations on Appointment and Conditions of Employment of Senior Managers (Government gazettee No. 37245) ,
2. (i) and (ii) The Municipal Regulations on minimum competency levels as promulgated in Government Gazette No. 29967 and amended by Government Gazette No. 41996 of 2018 in terms of Municipal Finance Management Act, (Act 56 of 2003) is administered by the Minister of Finance.
3. According to information received from provinces, the following are the total number of filled and vacant positions for municipal managers and chief financial officers as at end March 2023:

Position	Total filled	Total vacant	Not submitted	Total
Municipal Manager	194	62	1	257
Chief Financial Officer	178	78	1

1. To ensure effective use of consultants, the Minister of Finance promulgated the Local Government: Municipal Cost Containment Regulations and these Regulations introduced a requirement for the development of a consultancy reduction plan. The development of this consultancy reduction plan is now a prerequisite and needs to be approved by the municipal council before any consultant can be appointed, especially in instances where capacity exist within a specific municpality. Compliance with this Regulation is monitored by the National Treasury and hence it is suggested that the specific question relating to consultancy usage is reffered to the Minister of Finance.

End.

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Reply:

1. Yes, the list for all damaged infrastructure as received from the respective provinces have been furnished for roads and bridges damaged by floods in (i) KwaZulu-Natal and (ii) Eastern Cape. Below table sumarises the damaged infrastructure:

Table: Summaries for Eastern Cape & KwaZulu-Natal

Infrastructure	Eastern Cape	KwaZulu-Natal	Totals
Number of Roads submitted by the province	153	1 329	1 482
Number of roads funded by the NDMC	21	1 329	1 350
Number of bridges submitted by the province	14	153	167
Number of bridges funded by the NDMC	04	153	157

1. (a) Fixing of damaged roads and bridges is the responsibility of the affected provinces and municipalities as per their respective legislated mandate. However, following the applications by these affected organs state, DCOG allocated an amount of R3.1 billion (R3 060 038 000 for KZN and R113 511 000 for EC) from the disaster grants to augment the resources of the affected organs of state to fix the damaged infrastructure that included roads and bridges in the EC and KZN respectively. (i) A total of 1507 roads and bridges respectively were funded by DCOG to be fixed by the responsible organs of state (4 bridges in the EC and 153 bridges in KZN) (21 roads in the EC and 1 350 roads in KZN). (ii) The fixing of the damaged infrastructure that could not be funded from the disaster grants is the responsibility of the affected organs of state through existing programmes and arrangements as per the Disaster Management Act, 57 of 2002 (Act 57 of 2002) (b) the time frames for fixing infrastructure still not yet fixed are determined by the responsible organs of state inline with their existing arrangements.

End

Reply:

 

MINISTER OF WATER AND SANITATION

The table below provides breakdown of the procurement allocation for the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) main account, and Water Trading Entity (WTE):

Entity	Procurement budget allocations/ Goods and services budget	(i) small-medium- and micro-enterprises inclusive of (ii) cooperatives, (iii) township enterprises (iv) rural enterprises
DWS	2021/22	EME 2021/22 23.84% QSE 2021/22 29.65%
	2023/24	EME for the month of April 2023: 21.30% QSE for the month of April 2023: 9%
WTE	2021/22	EME 2021/22 36 % QSE 2021/22 14 %
	2023/24	EME for the month of April 2023: 19.80% QSE for the month of April 2023: 23.32%

*QSE – Qualifying Small Enterprises *EME – Exempt Micro Enterprise

The table below provides breakdown of procurement spending for Entities reporting to the Ministry of Water and Sanitation. It is important to note that there is not set aside Policy in Government in relation to entities. Water Boards procurement budget for financial year 2021/22 was over R7 billion, whereas the expenditure for the year under review is more than R3 billion spent on small-medium- and micro-enterprises which is more than 45%. Water boards financial year 2022/23 information provided for Quarter 1 - 3 where one quarter is still to be reported.

Entity	Procurement budget allocations/ Goods and services budget (Procurement Spend)	(i) small-medium- and micro-enterprises	% expenditure
Amatola Water	2021/22	R341 831 000 00	R179 034 721	52%
	2022/23 (Q1 to Q3)	R338 475 000 00	R58 636 363	17%
Bloem Water	2021/22	R 654 691 452.40	R327 345 726	50%
	2022/23 (Q1 to Q3)	R 405 108 729.98	R189 820 724	49%
Magalies Water	2021/22	R43 202 395,00	R25 375 240	59%
	2022/23 (Q1 to Q3)	R56 110 892	R43 563 827	78%
Mhlathuze Water	2021/22	R81 200 512	R72 539 878	89%
	2022/23 (Q1 to Q3)	R92 480 611	R84 279 883	91%
Lepelle Northern Water	2021/22	R86 178 147	R84 924 548	99%
	2022/23 (Q1 to Q3)	R121 537 981	R109 000 283	90%
Overberg Water	2021/22	R38 196 000	R18 817 984	49%
	2022/23 (Q1 to Q3)	R43 306 845	R14 486 033	33%
Rand Water	2021/22	R3 944 513 179	R1 626 145 171	41%
	2022/23 (Q1 to Q3)	R2 84 501 288	R1 337 017 292	47%
Umgeni Water	2021/22	R1 937 886 136	R 842 676 591	43%
	2022/23 (Q1 to Q3)	R2 471 551 556	R 1 201 835 802	48%

Reply:

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Reply:

The Department of Cooperative Governance (DCOG) will continue to support Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality in accordance with section 154 of the Constitution. This will be done in accordance with the District Development Model (DDM) in collaboration with other sector departments including the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) as DWS is responsible for water regulation. DWS monitors the management of drinking water quality compliance by WSAs and further engages the WSAs where non-compliance is detected. WSAs are required to register for the monitoring programme on the DWS’s Integrated Regulatory Information System (IRIS). Following the release of the Blue Drop Watch Report by DWS on 6 June 2023, DCOG in collaboration with DWS is developing an action plan, to be submitted to Cabinet, that seeks to address the non-compliances in the treatment processes of drinking water and effluent.

Furthermore, DCOG has embarked on a process of identifying stalled water projects, among others, in mainly dysfunctional municipalities that are perennial under spenders of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG). DCOG has consulted with National Treasury and SALGA on the creation of MIG schedule 6B that will see DCOG implement the identified stalled projects in dysfunctional municipalities as a mitigating measure towards water resilience and universal access. The schedule 6B implementation will be done in this financial year.

End.

Reply:

The Department of Water and Sanitation is not aware of any dysfunctionality which exists within the Amatola Water Board.

Any allegations that are brought to the attention of the Minister, that involves the Water Boards, are investigated, and addressed accordingly.

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Reply:

a) & (b) (i-ii) Regulation 62 of the Public Service Regulations (PSR), 2016 states that a secondment in terms of section 15 (2) or (3) of the Public Service Act, 1994 may only take place if-

(a) The employee or person being seconded has the necessary competency;

(b) The period of secondment does not exceed 12 calendar months, unless due to operational reasons determined otherwise by the Minister for the Public Service and Administration (MPSA); and

(c) An agreement has been concluded between the receiving and seconding department, organ of state, other government or any other body.

The recipient department, organ of state, other government or any other body in terms of section 15 (2) or (3) of the Act shall bear the inclusive costs of secondment, unless the seconding department, organ of state, other government or any other body agree otherwise.

Based on the above, the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) does not have a database of the information as secondments are administered by departments. Departments only approach the DPSA where they require a secondment for a period exceeding 12 calendar months as prescribed in Regulation 62 (1) (b) of the PSR, 2016.  

Therefore, this information must be sourced directly from individual departments as the information is not captured on the PERSAL system. 

(c) Through the National Treasury’s General Conditions of Contract (GCC) and Supply Chain Management: A Guide for Accounting Officers, guidance is provided to departments on the management of risks and associated conflict of interest from service providers. The relevant Treasury and each accounting officer may be approached to provide detailed information in response to this question.

End

Reply:

(1) A comprehensive overview of the procedure that was followed from the point when SA Tourism conceived the idea of a trip to New York to celebrate Freedom Day to the stage when the proposal was formally put forward for approval; if not, why not, if so, what are the relevant details.

I have been informed by South African Tourism that it has policies and a delegation of authority that guides the process for in-market programmes. The process that was followed for the Freedom Day celebration was as follows:

• One of the key programmes implemented annually is SA Tourism collaborating with the missions abroad to celebrate national days. For the 2023 Freedom Day celebrations, SA Tourism collaborated with the SA Mission in New York whereby the Consulate General of South Africa extended the invitation to the Mayor of New York for the event.
• Upon acceptance of the invitation by the Mayor of New York, the Hub-Head of SA Tourism in the US requested through an invitation that the Acting CEO of SA Tourism be part of the celebration as the event was elevated to high level dignitaries.
• The ACEO then submitted a formal motivation to the Minister on the 4th of April 2023 for approval to be part of the programme and this was approved on the 12th of April 2023.
• Subsequently, the ACEO saw the need to extend the invitation to the Portfolio Committee.
• A response from the Portfolio Committee was received on the 14th of April 2023.
• A request was made to the Minister on the 16th of April 2023 for the approval of the Portfolio Committee to travel to the US and for SAT to pay the costs.
• There was no Board approval for the project as this is part of the approved US Hub annual operational plan which focused on the collaboration with missions. Furthermore, the entity used the event to amplify the Global Advocacy programme.
• The budget for the event is part of the annual collaboration with missions which is part of the US Hub office annual operational plan.

The activities in New York were part of the localisation of the Global Advocacy Programme in the USA, which is a priority source market for South Africa. This was planned and delivered to amplify the Annual Global Advocacy Programme, which is a key deliverable of the entity’s Annual Performance Plan (APP) for the 2023/24 Financial Year, under Programme 3: Leisure Marketing.

(2) What checks and balances are in place to ensure that the proposed expenditure is compliant with rules and regulations.

South African Tourism manages all expenditure in line with the provisions of the PFMA, Treasury Regulations and associated internal control policies.

I advised that SAT cannot pay for Parliamentarians’ expenditure as these costs must be borne by Parliament.

 

Reply:

(a)(i)(ii)

Province	Adequately Fenced	Not Adequately Fenced	Grand Total
EC	3981	1065	5046
FS	876	69	945
GT	2064	2	2066
KZN	5241	556	5797
LP	3209	440	3649
MP	1126	523	1649
NC	417	128	545
NW	1138	310	1448
WC	1452		1452
National	19504	3093	22597

Note:

1. There are no school without fence.
2. Not Adequate fence only means that the height of the fence does not meet the required height of 1.8m as stipulated in the Norms and Standards.
3. Incorrect measurement of the height of the fence in some of the schools

(b)(i)  The main reason for the delay in the upgrade of fencing is the challenge to balance all infrastructure needs within the constraints of the available budget

(b)(ii)  There are fencing projects at more than 500 schools scheduled for implementation in 2023/24

Reply:

The Board of the Amatola Water had 12 meetings and 10 special board meetings, in the past 12 months. The prescribed number of meetings per year is six (6).

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Reply:

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and Nkomazi Local Municipality (LM) conducted a site inspection at 2ML reservoir in Ka-Hhoyi area. It was established that the concrete reservoir was leaking at the bottom. The Municipality indicated that a contractor will soon be appointed to inspect and repair the leaking reservoirs and several other water storages within the jurisdiction of Nkomazi LM.

The Municipality reported that a visual structural assessment was conducted to water storages within the jurisdiction and the report is in possession of the Municipality. Currently the Municipality advertised tender for the refurbishment of the water storages, which closed on the 24th of April 2023. The procurement process for appointment is planned to be concluded before end of September 2023. The project is funded by Nkomazi Local Municipality and the ward 11 water storage is one of the infrastructures that will benefit from the programme.

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Reply:

The table below provides breakdown of the procurement allocation for the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) main account, and Water Trading Entity (WTE):

Entity	Procurement budget allocations/ Goods and services budget	(i) small-medium- and micro-enterprises inclusive of (ii) cooperatives, (iii) township enterprises (iv) rural enterprises
DWS	2021/22	EME 2021/22 23.84% QSE 2021/22 29.65%
	2023/24	EME for the month of April 2023: 21.30% QSE for the month of April 2023: 9%
WTE	2021/22	EME 2021/22 36 % QSE 2021/22 14 %
	2023/24	EME for the month of April 2023: 19.80% QSE for the month of April 2023: 23.32%

*QSE – Qualifying Small Enterprises *EME – Exempt Micro Enterprise

The table below provides breakdown of procurement spending for Entities reporting to the Ministry of Water and Sanitation. It is important to note that there is not set aside Policy in Government in relation to entities. Water Boards procurement budget for financial year 2021/22 was over R7 billion, whereas the expenditure for the year under review is more than R3 billion spent on small-medium- and micro-enterprises which is more than 45%. Water boards financial year 2022/23 information provided for Quarter 1 - 3 where one quarter is still to be reported

 

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Reply:

BACKGROUND

Discipline management is a decentralised function. Information pertaining to discipline is captured by departments on the PERSAL System. When this data is accessed by the DPSA, it provides a holistic picture on discipline management in the Public Service. When information is not captured or available (either due to non-existent categories on the PERSAL System, or negligence on the side of a department), this impact the perceived picture.

RESPONSE

What (a) total number of public servants were investigated for corruption, theft and/or fraud in the Public Service during the (i) 2019-20, (ii) 2020-21 and (iii) 2021-22 financial years and (b) is the breakdown of the specified number for each national and provincial department;

Number of Public Servants disciplined for Fraud, Theft or Corruption
National/Provincial Department	(i)2019/2020	(ii)2020/2021	(iii)2021/2022	(b)Total
Total	1367	296	225	1888
Eastern Cape	Total	1	0	28	29
	Roads and Public Works	0	0	28	28
	Transport	1	0	0	1
Gauteng	Total	1	0	0	1
	Infrastructure Development	1	0	0	1
KwaZulu-Natal	Total	42	36	124	202
	Agriculture and Rural Development	0	0	1	1
	Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs	0	0	1	1
	Education	1	2	3	6
	Health	31	33	116	180
	Human Settlements	10	1	3	14
Limpopo	Total	0	1	0	1
	Education	0	1	0	1
Mpumalanga	Total	0	1	0	1
	Health	0	1	0	1
National	Total	1268	252	15	1535
	Correctional Services	3	33	7	43
	Employment and Labour	0	1	0	1
	Environment, Forestry and Fisheries	0	0	1	1
	Higher Education and Training	0	0	1	1
	Justice and Constitutional Development	49	28	6	83
	Police Service	1216	190	0	1406
North West	Total	0	1	22	23
	Community Safety and Transport Management	0	1	12	13
	Education	0	0	10	10
Northern Cape	Total	1	0	0	1
	Health	1	0	0	1
Western Cape	Total	54	5	36	95
	Education	34	5	4	43
	Health and Wellness	0	0	32	32
	Infrastructure	20	0	0	20
Data source: PERSAL
Compiled by the DPSA
Excluding Defence and State Security Agency

2) (a) in what total number of the investigations was consequence management taken and (b) what type of consequence management was taken by each national and provincial department;

(a)Investigator and Chairperson findings and (b)Sanctions
Investigator findings	Chairperson guilty indicator	Sanction corrective counselling	Sanction demotion	Sanction dismissal	Sanction verbal warning	Sanction written warning	Sanction fine	Sanction suspended for period not exceeding 2 months	Sanction suspended without pay
		No	Yess	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Total	1 333	280	275	25	2	19	2	15	1	41	100
Not specified	788	49	21	0	0	1	1	3	0	8	3
A prima facie case of misconduct in terms of Reg 5 (4) (x)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A prima facie case of misconduct in terms of Reg 5 (4)(x)	0	8	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A prima facie case of misconduct in terms of Reg 5 (4)(x) Recommended	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Allegations Substantiated	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Allegations were serious and warranted formal inquiry	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Case withdrawn	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Charge officer	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Charges of misconduct	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Committed misconduct	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Contravene Reg 5(4)(F) and Reg 5(3)(H)	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Departmental steps to be instituted	0	7	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disciplinary hearing	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disciplinary steps must be taken	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Employee fraud the medical certificate for late coming and being under the influence of alcohol	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Employee stole school money in September and October 2022.	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Final written warning	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
For trial	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Formal charges	0	0	28	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	28
Formal Disciplinary Hearing	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Found that official submitted fraudulent medical certificates. Matter to be referred to DUI	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Fraud	0	0	10	0	0	10	0	0	0	0	0
Go on trail	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Grounds to charge	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Guilty	105	0	31	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	30
Guilty of misconduct	0	0	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	24	0
Guilty	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Employee failed to deal with insubordination and also condoned capturing of marks of learners without moderation	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hearing	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Insufficient evidence	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Insufficient evidence exists to charge official and matter finalised	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Insufficient evidence to charge official and matter regarded as finalised	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Insufficient evidence to charge official and matter regarded as finalised	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Investigation in progress	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Investigation pending. Matter regarded as finalised. Official entered into plea bargaining agreement with the department	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Investigator indicated that the case must be withdrawn against the member because of invalid evidence concerning insult	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Matter is regarded as finalised. Insufficient evidence to charge	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Matter is regarded as finalised. No substance to charge	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Matter is regarded as finalised. Insufficient evidence to formally charge the employee with misconduct	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Matter referred for disciplinary hearing	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Matter referred for departmental hearing	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Matter to be forwarded to a hearing	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Member must be disciplined according to Res 1/2006	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Member to appear for a departmental hearing	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Member to be trailed through expeditious process	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Members found guilty	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Misconduct founded	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Employee did not follow procedure as in line with logistical administration policy and procedure	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Employee committed a misconduct by displaying activities related to fraud and dishonesty	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Employee committed misconduct by displaying activities related to fraud and dishonesty	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
No departmental case against the member	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No departmental steps must be taken against the member	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No grounds to charge	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No grounds to charge or proof that employee stole the items. SAPS also withdrew charges	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No prima facie case	28	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No prima facie case	63	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No prima facie case	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No steps taken	50	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Not guilty	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Officer be charged with a misconduct	0	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
OBE discipline	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Prima facie case of misconduct	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Prima facie case	86	38	21	0	0	1	0	10	0	0	0
Prima facie case	25	49	79	25	0	1	0	0	0	2	27
Prima facie case	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Prima facie case of misconduct	16	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
Prima facie case of serious misconduct. Recommends disciplinary investigation	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Prima facie case	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Prima facie evidence	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Recommendation of disciplinary steps	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Recommends departmental steps to be instituted against employee	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Refer for hearing	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Refer for trial	0	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Referred to hearing	0	48	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Referred to hearing	48	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Steps taken	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Steps to be taken against the member	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Steps to be taken	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Steps to be taken	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Still pending	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Substance to charge	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sufficient evidence to charge	1	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
The member was found guilty on one charge ito Reg 5(3)(g g) and was given final written warning	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
The charges against the official was withdrawn. The matter is regarded as finalised	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
The Member be charged for contravening Reg 5(4)k and x	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
The official must appear before a formal disciplinary hearing	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
The official must appear before a formal disciplinary hearing	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
The official must be formally charged for the misconduct committed	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Theft incident was circulated in social media and tarnished the image of the department and education	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Prima facie case exist. Expeditious process	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
There is a prima facie case against the member. Recommend expeditious process	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
There is no prima facie evidence to charge the employee with misconduct	28	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
There was enough evidence to charge the employee.	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
To be send to the provincial office for hearing	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
To proceed with the disciplinary enquiry	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
To proceed with the disciplinary inquiry	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Trial	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Verbally intimidated some staff.	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Withdrawal of charges	0	28	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Withdrawn by IPID	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Data source: PERSAL
Compiled by the DPSA
Excluding Defence and State Security Agency

3. In instances where consequence management was not taken, what are the reasons that it was not taken?

The PERSAL System only makes provision for department to enter records where action was taken and captured by departments.

4. What total amount is involved in each of the investigations into fraud, corruption and theft?

The information at our disposal through the PERSAL System does not reflect the specific amounts involved in the specific areas.

5. What total amount was recovered in the course of each investigation?

The information at our disposal through the PERSAL System does not reflect the amounts involved, however this may be sourced directly from each department.

End

Reply:

1. The NDA’s work to provide grant funding and capacity building for NPOs is limited by budget it receives from the National Treasury.

2. Yes. (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii) see Annexure A

Reply:

In nature of the question posed, the arrests fall within the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation: Crimes Against the State.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

Background

In Park Road Police Station is being implemented by the Development Bank of South Africa on behalf of the Department of Public Work and Infrastructure. The project scope for this project entails construction of new facilities (New Gate House, Dog Kennels, CSC, Educational Centre and Archive) and Repair and renovation to all existing building.

a) Plant (IDP) was signed off by the DBSA, as SSD was experiencing cash flow problems. IDP, the second Contractor, was subsequently terminated on the 23 July 2019 due to non-performance.

b) (i) At that time of March 2019, the SSD was paid R9 704 530.60 for works done by SSD (about 15.4 % of Initial Construction Cost of R62 879 067.08) and progress on site was 17%. IDP were however terminated on the 23 July 2019 and no monies were paid to them.

(ii) The contract duration was for 24 months with the initial completion date of 30 November 2019. As mentioned above, the IDP were terminated on the 23 July 2019.

c) Following the ceding of the initial contract between SSD and IDP, and subsequent the termination of IDP. A new tender process was started under RFP 222/2019 to appoint the replacement contractor. The recommended bidder offer was R85 211 178. The DBSA requested funding for R98 299 615 (Construction, Professional Fees and DBSA Management fee) however this was no approved. DBSA was instructed to institute legal processes to claim from repudiated contractor and recover the funds in order to successful complete the project.

DBSA appointed Mpfumelelo Business Enterprise cc (MBE) on 29 October 2020 for R 48 970 754.93 on a phased scope. To date, the overall progress is approximately 73%, the anticipated practical completion date of is 03 October 2023. To date R 37 302 012,99 Incl. VAT has been certified for work done by MBE

MBE was handed over the Park Road SAPS site on 04 January 2021 and works commenced on the 18 of January 2021 for a 11 months duration to implement the reduced scope (Phase 1).

With respect to the percentage of budget and expenditure to date. As mentioned above, SSD was paid R9 704 530.60 for works done by SSD (about 15.4 % of Initial Construction Cost of R62 879 067.08). For the current contractor, R 37 302 012,99 Incl. VAT has been certified for work done by Mpfumelelo Business Enterprise cc (MBE) (About 76% of Contract amount of R48 970 754.93).

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

a) The total amount spent on the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) sector budget vote networking dinner was R 132, 457.60.

b) The criteria used to invite the guest list was on selecting key sector stakeholders such as entities, professional councils, identified beneficiaries from EPWP projects, young professionals and bursary holders, and oversight bodies such as members of Audit Committee and Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

1. (a) Yes, in 2013 a desk top analysis was done and ascertained that areas of the station were over-utilized and SAPS have placed such need for a capital works project on their U-AMP. In addition, DPWI has provided additional space by means of a rehabilitation project relating to the conversion of garages into offices which has slightly alleviated the over-utilization. Final Delivery of this project was taken on the 05 September 2019.

b) Yes, the 2013 desk top revealed that the cells are in need of a total upgrade. The Client must register a Capital Works, works control system project to address this shortcoming as they hold the Capital infrastructure budget, which will be prioritized in terms of the placement on the U-AMP.

c) The Station had identified the need, in 2013, to convert the official single quarters into offices, which is a capital works project and will require the Client to register a Capital Works, works control system project as they hold the Capital infrastructure budget. However SAPS 2023/2024 U-AMP does not indicate this need and a revised conditional survey will have to be conducted in this regard and has been scheduled for the 30 May 2023.

d) Yes, a site assessment was conducted on the married quarters of the Brighton Beach Police Station

(i) The 2013 desk analysis ascertained that the married quarters were in good condition and were renovated last in 2007.

.(ii) A revised conditional survey will have to be conducted in this regard and has been scheduled for the 30 May 2023.

2. The provision, installation and connection of the JoJo Tanks is considered a capital works project and hence would require SAPS to request such capital works from DPWI as governed by the service level agreement as they hold the Capital infrastructure budget. Regrettably, SAPS had independently purchased 3 x 5000lts JoJo tanks on the 08 August 2022. The same SAPS appointed Contractor that delivered the JoJo Tanks had them installed and connected to the main water municipal line. The electrical supply from the JoJo tanks are currently running from extension cords. DPWI Workshops have been requested to evaluate whether they are able to assist in the connection of such and as a result, a firm date of electrical connection cannot be provided.

3. SAPS is required to request such capital works from DPWI as governed by the service level agreement as this is a capital works project as they hold the Capital infrastructure budget.

This request to DPWI is further required by the GIAMA.

4. DPWI has a Water Savings Term Contract, REONET, on site who had addressed this subject. Should this be a new complaint, SAPS to register a call with DPWI Day-to-Day Call Centre?

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

(1)

(a) Attached please see progress update report made on the implementation of the recommendation by BDO

(b) The DPWI provided the fire damage report to the HAWKS as an input into the investigation into the Parliament Fire – DPWI awaits for the outcome of the independent investigation and apply consequences upon the outcome of the investigation for all the areas of uncertainty.

(2) Yes a follow up report was provided by BDO in February 2022, please see the attached report

(3) Please see the attached report

Reply:

1. Yes, eligible children continue to receive the full value of the Foster Care Grant, as per Child Support Grant Top-Up Policy which was adopted by Cabinet in 2015. The Policy emphasised that all orphans already in the court ordered foster care will remain in the system and will not be affected by the introduction of the CSG Top-Up. This is because it is constitutionally regressive to take the provision away from children who are already receiving it.

1. No. The provision of the grant is only applicable to new applicants with effect from date when the provision came into operation.

1. (a) As of May 2023, there were 289 139 Foster Care Grant and 43 135 beneficiaries children on the Child Support Grant Top-Up beneficiaries nationally.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

(1) The horticultural staff complement of TEFLA is herein below mention, however TEFLA has outsourced the pest control to a company called Choice Pest Control. Herein below is total number of horticultural staff employed to maintain gardens throughout the Parks are as follows:

(a) Acacia Park – 66

(b) Laboria Park - 8

(c) Pelican Park - 9

(2) Only pest control has been outsourced to a subcontractor, Choice Pest Control. All other horticultural services are provided by TEFLA directly through their internal staff.

(3) All horticultural work was part of the project scope and no additional costs are incurred by the Department in carrying out this work. The horticultural scope is attached.

Reply:

1. The said office had experienced capacity challenges as a result of high volumes of clients visiting due to carry overs from previous days. SASSA has since strengthened capacity and prioritised the Maponya Mall office to effectively address these issues.

1. (a) over 300 per day (b) 1500 weekly; and (c) 6 000 monthly

1. Yes. The Maponya Mall office uses a generator provided by the Centre Management. Though the generator is fully functional, load shedding has a negative impact on network connectivity which in turn results in losses in production time. SASSA Gauteng Region is currently looking at alternative load shedding back up power supply.

1. Yes. The office has (a) 3 security officers monitoring the safety of beneficiaries in the queues and CCTV cameras that have 24 hours recording capacity

(b) 30 minutes intervals

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. The Department availed a list of 258 vacant land parcels from its Immovable Asset Register to the Housing Development Agency (HDA) in support to accommodate the flood victims in KZN. The HDA applied its housing suitability criteria matrix which included environmental considerations and encumbrances and requested 5 land parcels within eThekwini to be availed. The below table indicates the land parcels made available within eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. Table 1 refers:

No.	Province	Municipality	Property description
1	KZN	eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality	Remainder of Portion 36 of Erf 4076 Reservoir Hills
2			Remainder of Erf 306 Verulam
3			Remainder of Erf 305 Verulam
4			Portion 29 of farm Drift No. 906 FT
5			Portion 49 of farm Drift No. 906 FT

 

Further to the above, the Department processed 04 land parcels in support of flood victims in the uMsunduzi Local Municipality. Table 2 refers.

No.	Province	Municipality	Property description
1	KZN	uMsunduzi Local Municipality	Portion 81 of Erf 5 Edendale
2			Portion 82 of Erf 5 Edendale
3			Erf 6 Dennisfield
4			Erf 39 Dennisfield

In support of human development, the Department processed additional 13 land parcels for release to the HDA across provinces. HDA indicated that the land parcels released within KZN will also be utilised to support communities affected by the floods, in particular Portion 891, Erf. 76 Cato Manor within eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.

2. (a) DPWI have approved released of the land parcels to the Housing Development Agency and have issued the Special Power of Attorney (SPOA) for commencement of the Town Planning processes whilst awaiting National Treasury endorsement and the initiation of transfer and conveyancing processes.

(b) The DPWI supports spatial transformation by releasing DPWI identified land parcels to the (HDA) for human settlement purposes. This is done in terms of both Departments constitutional mandates as well as in terms of the Departmental Disposal Policy that supports the social disposals. Further to the above, reference is made to the Cabinet Memorandum No.03 of 2019 (Cab memo) which approved that the state-owned land identified as suitable for human settlement development be released to the HDA as well as the issuing of the Power of Attorney in favour of the HDA.

Reply:

We are committed to preventing, detecting and eliminating fraud and corruption in the social assistance programme. In this regard, we have taken full advantage of new technologies to strengthen anti-corruption measures, starting with the digitisation of our service offering. These include interfaces with the databases of other government departments, including Home Affairs (Population Register) to validate information on identity, life status, employment status, as well as PERSAL and Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF).

In addition to measures alluded to above, SASSA implements the following internal anti-corruption controls:

• Validation of applicants’ information through interfaces with systems from other entities.
• Conditional approval of a grant-pending bank account verification. Payment is extracted only if the bank account details match those of the approved beneficiary.
• Local offices perform daily verification of transactions as a process for ensuring that all transactions processed on SOCPEN are supported by the relevant documents.
• Biometric validation of all transactions will be implemented as from 01 June 2023. This serves as a non-repudiation of all transactions performed on the system.
• Confirm and validate all large amounts, and where there is suspicion of fraud, the payment of grants must be immediately stopped through Post Bank, or a bank recall is done through the South African Reserve Bank.
• Monthly run of the Oracle list of personnel against SOCPEN, immediately before cut-off for payment extraction on a monthly basis. Any records found added, except for FCG, must be held over for confirmation of eligibility before payment is released, even if this only happens the following month.
• Run an Oracle list of SASSA personnel against SOCPEN before grant payment extraction to identify staff on SOCPEN.
• System prohibition of one staff member using the credentials of another staff member to log onto the system.

Another method of combating Child Support Grant (CSG) fraud has to do with the implementation of the whistleblowing mechanism wherein SASSA employees and members of the public are able to report allegations of Fraud.

These allegations are investigated internally, since SASSA has an internal investigation unit which is well capacitated and works in conjunction with the Law Enforcement Agencies.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

(1)

(a) As part of departmental calendar, the budget vote events are earmarked to interact with sector stakeholders to share developments around the policy imperatives and priorities of the department.

(b) The Cresta Grande hotel in Cape Town.

(2)

(a) The venue hire and dinner cost R132 457.60 for a guest list of about 130 persons.

(b) The budget line item was from the venue hire under goods and services

(3)

(a) 130 persons.

(b) The intended outcome was for information sharing and building cohesion within the sector on implementation of cross cutting programmes.

(4) (a),(b) and (c) Building strategic partnerships with sector stakeholders in promoting departmental outcome on integrated planning and coordination.

Reply:

(a) (b) (c)

Province	Number	Period of vacancy	Reasons for vacancies
KZN	107	4 years	Budget constraints (significant reduction on Compensation of Employees over the MTEF period
WC	103	6-12 months	Budget constraints (significant reduction on Compensation of Employees over the MTEF period
FS	101	8 years	Budget constraints (significant reduction on Compensation of Employees over the MTEF period
EC	151	5 years	Moratorium on filling of posts (2019-Sept 2022) due to significant reduction on CoE budget
LP	44	12 Months	Budget constraints (significant reduction on Compensation of Employees over the MTEF period
NC	158	1-2 years	Budget constraints (significant reduction on Compensation of Employees over the MTEF period
MP	72	1-2 years	Budget constraints (significant reduction on Compensation of Employees over the MTEF period
GP	365	1-2 years	Budget constraints (significant reduction on Compensation of Employees over the MTEF period
NW	178	1-2 years	Budget constraints (significant reduction on Compensation of Employees over the MTEF period

(d) Around 9 000.

Reply:

1. The DSDTV is due to be launch in the second quarter of the current financial year. It is important to clarify that the platform that I referred to during the Budget Vote 19 is DSDTV, and not DSTV.

1. Once officially launched, DSDTV will be accessible to the public on the online platform on www.dsdtv.org.za. This online platform is commonly known as Over the Top (OTT) platform, a media service in which streaming of content is offered directly to viewers via the internet with no support of cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms.

1. During the pilot phase, the Department will explore ways of monetising and zero rating the platform to cut down on data cost for the public.

1. It cost the Department R81 250 a month to set up, load information, design and maintain the platform.

1. There is no contractual agreement with DSTV. The platform will be piloted for a period of 12 months. Thereafter it will be evaluated before a final decision is taken on the way forward.

1. Financial constraints preclude the Department from entering into any arrangement with the SABC. The OTT platform provides Government with an invaluable opportunity to talk directly to its beneficiaries at a reduced cost. It also creates internal capacity and skills to produce DSD Portfolio-related content.

1. South African population.

1. The content will be sourced directly from the DSD Portfolio interventions and programmes and overseen by the Chief Directorate; Communication.

1. Refer to (h) above.

1. The content on the platform will focus on all areas of the DSD Portfolio.

1. Refer to (h) above.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

The DPWI is currently renting out both improved and unimproved state owned properties to various tenants, see attached Annexure A (active leases including both improved and unimproved as well as the tenant name and rental amount).

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. The Department received a letter of demand from Geo Louw (representing Jana Van Rensburg).

2. The region had already obtained a legal opinion from State Attorney.

3. In terms of the legal opinion obtained from the State Attorney, the complainant should not be paid unless if there is a court order to that effect. The complainant as per the legal opinion provided, is not being disadvantaged, but in the event they believe in their case, they may proceed and test their case before a competent court of law as they did by way of issuing a letter of demand, hence litigation starts by issuing a letter of demand and the subsequent process shall follow thereafter.

4. It may also pose a challenge with the auditors in the sense that the Department may not have valid grounds as to why it deviated from the legal opinion provided, which legal opinion was accordingly requested by the same Department to guide the Department with the further handling of the matter in question.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

(1)

a) 30 May 2023.

b) Station block, cells, single and married quarters.

c) A Back to Office Report is still in progress but has thus far captured serious concerns surrounding the flat concrete roof leaks at the block of flats, the cells that do not comply with the Project Five Start Specifications, the down pipes, aging infrastructure (waste water underground pipes) and lack of security measures.

(2) The provision, installation and connection of the JoJo Tanks are considered a capital works project and hence would require South African Police Services to request such capital works from DPWI as governed by the Service Level Agreement and Government Immovable Asset Management Act as they hold the Capital infrastructure budget. Regrettably, South African Police Services had independently purchased 3 x 5000lts JoJo tanks on the 08 August 2022. The same appointed Contractor that delivered the JoJo Tanks had them installed and connected to the main water municipal line.

As REONET (shared water savings initiative) is already on site, a request will be made to them for the possible assistance in electrical connection of the water tanks, failure which will require South African Police Services to fund this connection and create a Works Control System Project. A time frame can thus not be provided immediately.

(3) As South African Police Services are custodians of allocating official quarters to their qualifying members, this question must be posed to South African Police Services for a response.

(4) It is acknowledged that despite a safety assessment not being conducted that the spill over within the basement is of serious concern which has further been captured as such in the Back to Office Report. The Client was requested to log a call with NDPWI Central Call Centre to afford NDPWI an opportunity of addressing such via day-to-day.

(5) No, a budget has not been allocated for repairs and refurbishment of the station in the current financial year. The budget process has already commenced by means of the Back to Office Report which must be submitted to Construction Projects Management Business Units for evaluation and cost estimate purposes, after which such will be submitted to Property Portfolio Management Unit.

The following dates are projected:-

Submit Back to Office Report to Construction Projects Management Business Units by 30 June 2023. Construction Projects Management Business Units to evaluate and provide cost estimate by end of July 2023. Submit the motivation to Property Portfolio Management Unit or further attention in respect of processes to allocate funds and create a Works Control System Project within the first week of August 2023. Allocate funding and create a Works Control System Project for implementation within the 2024/2025 financial year, subject to availability of funds.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

(1)

(a) The department has approximately 71 number of stalled projects for a period exceeding 12 months due to construction companies’ incapability to complete the various contracts.

(b) The total monetary value is approximately R4.4 Billion for the infrastructure projects.

(c) The details of the projects are attached herewith marked as Annexure A.

(d) The is a range of measures taken by the department which include but not limited to warning letters, mora letters and ultimately termination of the contracts.

(2) The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure is a custodian of government infrastructure. The department has various entities, which are state owned companies, including the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB). The CIDB is a statutory body established to promote and regulate the construction industry. It plays a vital role in promoting best practices, regulating the industry and providing support to contractors. The CIDB is well positioned to address the concerns of incapable construction companies and effectively grading contractors to ensure that this conduct does not arise in future.

Reply:

1. (i) (ii) To date, 49 449 persons and 12 362 households receiving social grants have been linked to economic and employment opportunities. Not possible to provide detailed information at this stage as current data collection and analysis is not disaggregated accordingly to these categories.

The DSD Portfolio is working with the FinMark Trust on piloting the “Generating Better Livelihoods for Grant Recipients” initiative to link social grants beneficiaries to sustainable livelihoods opportunities through employment, skills development and social entrepreneurship. The project’s primary target is Child Support Grant and will be extended to other grant types.

Reply:

Find here: Reply

Reply:

1. (b) (c) (d) No, the Department of Health has not commissioned any studies and or live monitoring to assess the current extent of electromagnetic pollution in urban and rural areas.

1. -(ii) The South African Products and Regulatory Authority (SAPHRA), which is an entity of the National Department of Health is responsible, from the viewpoint of human health, for regulating electronic products producing non-ionising electromagnetic fields (EMF), i.e. where the frequency of such EMF is less than 300 GHz. In carrying out this responsibility, SAPHRA has been utilising the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International EMF Project (www.who.int/peh-emf/en/) as its primary source of information and guidance with respect to the health effects of EMF. The International EMF Project was established by the WHO in 1996 to (i) assess the scientific evidence for possible adverse health effects of non-ionising electromagnetic fields on an on-going basis, (ii) initiate and coordinate new research in this regard, and (iii) compile health risk assessments for different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. The Department of Health has been a member of the International Advisory Committee of the International EMF Project since 1998.

In June 2005 the International EMF Project hosted a workshop that was specifically aimed at considering the possible health consequences of the emissions from cellular base stations and wireless networks. The findings of this workshop were summarised in a 2-page Fact Sheet (http://www.who.int/peh-emf/publications/facts/fs304/en/). The following extract from this Fact Sheet is still considered by the WHO as a summary of the findings to date, i.e. “Considering the very low exposure levels and research results collected to date, there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak RF signals from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects.”

Another WHO Fact Sheet was published in June 2011 and reviewed in October 2014, i.e. Electromagnetic fields and public health: mobile phones. This Fact Sheet can be found at http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs193/en/) and the conclusion is stated as follows: “A large number of studies have been performed over the last two decades to assess whether mobile phones pose a potential health risk. To date, no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use.”

The WHO recommends utilising internationally recognised exposure guidelines such as those published in 1998 by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and reconfirmed in 2009 for the frequency range 100 kHz – 300 GHz (i.e. including all the frequencies employed by the cellular industry). The Department of Health likewise recommends the use of these ICNIRP guidelines to protect people against the known adverse health effects of EMF.

The numerous measurement surveys, which have been conducted around the world and in South Africa, have shown that the actual levels of public exposure as a result of base station emissions invariably are only a fraction of the ICNIRP guidelines, even in instances where members of the public have been really concerned about their exposure to these emissions. At present there is no confirmed scientific evidence that points to any health hazard associated with the very low levels of exposure that the general public would typically experience in the vicinity of a cellular base station. The Department is therefore satisfied that the health of the general public is not being compromised by their exposure to the microwave emissions of cellular base stations. This also means that local and other authorities, in considering the environmental impact of any particular base station, do not need to and should not attempt, from a public health point of view, to set any restrictions with respect to parameters such as distance to the mast, duration of exposure, height of the mast, etc.

The Department of Health is not able to make any pronouncements about the specific levels of EMF that a member of the public would experience at any particular base station site when it is in operation. However, generally-speaking unless a person would climb to the top of a mast (or other structure supporting an antenna) and position him/herself not more than a few meters away right in front of the active antenna, such a person would have no real possibility of being exposed to even anywhere near the afore-mentioned ICNIRP guideline limits. Since these base stations are typically cordoned off by means of barbed wire fencing and locked gates/doors in order to protect the sensitive and expensive technology, getting to a mast and actually climbing it despite the afore-mentioned security measures would certainly not be considered responsible behaviour. Even then the only real threat to the health of the person would be falling at any height from the structure in question. Based on the results of numerous global and local surveys, the experience has been that the exposure to base station EMF at ground level is typically in the range of between 0.001 – 1.0 % of the afore-mentioned ICNIRP guideline limits. Against this background of available data, there would be no scientific grounds to support any allegation that adverse health effects might be suffered by a responsible member of the public due to the EMF emitted by a base station.

Although the Department of Health currently neither prescribes nor enforces any compulsory exposure limits for electromagnetic fields, the Department does advise all concerned (whether they be a government department, the industry or the public) that voluntary compliance with the afore-mentioned ICNIRP exposure guidelines is the recommended and science-based way to deal with any situation involving human exposure to the non-ionising electromagnetic fields emitted by cellular base stations and handsets.

In addition, the National Environmental Management Regulations, 2014, as amended, published under the National Environmental Management Act 1998 (Act 107 of 1998), is the national legislation prescribing requirements for Environmental Impact Assessment to be conducted for various activities, prior to their commencement, depending on their scale and their potential to result in environmental and health impacts. The installation and use electromagnetic of Internet Wi-Fi [5G], Low Earth Orbit satellites, mobile phone towers and Internet fibre cables have not been identified as activities with a potential to result in significant pollution to the environment and therefore do not require an EIA to be conducted.

END.

Reply:

The public hospitals and forensic pathology mortuaries have continuous backup generator capacity. This helps mitigate the potential of mortal remains decomposing. There are continuous discussions with ESKOM to exempt public hospitals and Forensic pathology mortuaries from loadshedding. Most of the decomposed bodies are received by forensic pathology mortuaries mostly due to these bodies being discovered in public spaces after a longtime.

1. Measures taken to trace families for both public hospitals and forensic pathology mortuaries.

• In relation to Forensic Pathology Mortuaries, all unclaimed bodies are managed according to (i) the regulations for rendering Forensic Pathology Services (No R341 of 2005) – Section 43, 44, and 45 and (ii) the National Code of Guidelines for Forensic Pathology Practice in South Africa – Chapter 13 Section 460 to 464.
• It is the mandate of the South African Police Service (SAPS) to manage all unidentified cases from both the public hospitals and Forensic Pathology Service facilities. The SAPS has the competency of identification and tracing of families.

(b) Steps taken by the Department of Health to trace the families of the deceased?

The Department of Health collaborates with the SAPS, Department of Home Affairs (for finger prints), Department of Social Development (for tracing of families) and local municipalities (for paupers’ burial where families are not successfully traced).

The steps are as follows:

• In case of an unclaimed body where there are addresses provided, their next of kin are contacted.
• Tracing is also done by the social worker using details provided by the hospital.
• Community development/health workers are also used in tracing at last address that was given on the deceased patient’s file.
• The unclaimed deceased details and photos also get published through public media outlets.
• Should the tracing not be successful, the deceased’s DNA is extracted and sent to the SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory for storage in the database for future reference. It is only at this stage that the Department of Health makes an application to the Municipality for a Pauper burial.  

END.